Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg says he's uniquely qualified to be US president

Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg says he's uniquely qualified to be US president

Share

Shares

Copy Link

{copyShortcut} to copy
Link copied!

Updated: 1:26 PM EDT Mar 15, 2019

Hide TranscriptShow Transcript

ANNOUNCER: THIS IS A WMUR COMMITMENT 2020 SPECIAL, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NEW HAMPSHIRE INSTITUTE OF POLITICS. ADAM: GOOD EVENING, AND WELCOME TO OUR "CONVERSATION WITH THE CANDIDATE" SERIES. I’M ADAM SEXTON. OUR GUEST THIS EVENING IS SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG. TONIGHT, WE’LL BE GETTING TO KNOW THE MAYOR AND WHERE HE STANDS ON KEY ISSUES. AT THE START OF OUR SHOW, I’LL BE ASKING THE CANDIDATE SOME QUESTIONS. AND THEN AFTER A BREAK, WE’LL HEAD TO OUR STUDIO AUDIENCE ASK THEIR QUESTIONS IN A TOWN HALL FORMAT. BUT BEFORE WE BEGIN WITH THAT, LET’S TAKE A QUICK LOOK AT THE CANDIDATE’S BIOGRAPHY. PETE BUTTIGIEG WAS BORN AND RAISED IN SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, GRADUATING FROM HIGH SCHOOL THERE BEFORE GETTING HIS BACHELOR’S DEGREE IN HISTORY AND LITERATURE FROM HARVARD. BUTTIGIEG WENT ON TO BECOME A RHODES SCHOLAR, STUDYING PHILOSOPHY, POLITICS, AND ECONOMICS AT OXFORD. IN 2011, HE WAS ELECTED MAYOR OF SOUTH BEND AT 29 YEARS OLD AND REELECTED IN 2015. BUTTIGIEG SERVED AS A LIEUTENANT IN THE U.S. NAVY RESERVE, AND IN 2014 TOOK AN UNPAID SEVEN MONTHS OF LEAVE DURING HIS MAYORAL TERM FOR A DEPLOYMENT TO AFGHANISTAN, WHERE HE EARNED THE JOINT SERVICE COMMENDATION MEDAL FOR COUNTERTERRORISM WORK. IN 2017, HE RAN FOR DEMOCRAT NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMANSHIP, AND HE IS CURRENTLY THE CHAIR OF THE AUTOMATION AND THE IMPACTS ON AMERICA’S CITIES TASK FORCE AT THE UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF MAYORS. BUTTIGIEG IS MARRIED AND LIVES WITH HIS HUSBAND IN THE SAME SOUTH BEND NEIGHBORHOOD WHERE HE GREW UP. MAYOR BUTTIGIEG, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US. MAYOR. THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME ON. ADAM: YOU HAVE EXECUTIVE EXPERIENCE, BUT IT’S AS MAYOR OF A CITY OF ABOUT 100,000 PEOPLE. >> I WOULD ARGUE THAT BEING THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF ANY SIZE GIVES YOU SOME OF THE MOST RELATIVE EXPERIENCE. I GET THAT IT IS AN UNCONVENTIONAL BACKGROUND, BUT I AM NOT CERTAIN THAT BEING IN CONGRESS IS ANY BETTER OF A PREPARATION. I WOULD ARGUE THAT WE WOULD BE WELL SERVED IF CONGRESS STARTED LOOKING MORE LIKE THE BEST RUN CITIES AND TOWNS IN THE U.S., INSTEAD OF THE OTHER WAY AROUND. I HAVE GOT MORE YEARS OF GOVERNMENT EXPERIENCE UNDER MY BELT THAN THE PRESIDENT. IF YOU THINK THAT IS A LOW BAR, I MORE EXECUTIVE EXPENSE IN THE PRICE -- THAN THE VICE PRESIDENT AND MORE MILITARY EXPERIENCE THAN ANYBODY TO WALK INTO THAT OFFICE SINCE GEORGE H.W. BUSH. YOU COULD BE CALLED ON ANYTHING, ECONOMICS, PARKS AND RECREATION, OR A RACIALLY EXPLICIT OFFICER-INVOLVED SHOOTING AND YOU HAVE TO GET ON TELEVISION TO RESOLVE THE WAY PEOPLE FEEL ABOUT IT IN THE MATTER OF MINUTES. I THINK THIS EXECUTIVE JOB IS ABOUT THREE THINGS, IMPLEMENTING GOOD POLICY, CAPABLY RUNNING AND ADMINISTRATION, AND THE MOST IMPORTANT, CALLING PEOPLE TO THEIR HIGHEST VALUES AND BRINGING THEM TOGETHER. I THINK THE MAYOR HAS THAT EXPERIENCE IN SPADES. JOHN: -- ADAM: WE ARE SEEING A MIGRATION TO THE LEFT. WHERE DO YOU STAND ON THAT SPECTRUM? MAYOR BUTTIGIEG: I THINK THE SPECTRUM IS BECOMING LESS AND LESS USEFUL. I KNOW ANALYSTS WANT TO LINE YOU UP ON AN IDEOLOGICAL PLANE, BUT I DO NOT THINK THAT IS HOW MOST OF US THINK ABOUT POLICY. WE THINK, WILL THIS POLICY MAKE US BETTER OFF OR WORSE OFF? PART OF WHY I AM DOING THIS IS TO CHANGE THE GO-BAG YOU -- CHANGE THE VOCABULARY MY PARTY USES BEFORE TO GET INTO THE NITTY-GRITTY OF POLICIES. ALSO, BRING IT TO THE GROUND LEVEL, AS MAYORS DO, TALK ABOUT HOW ANYTHING WE CARE ABOUT, FROM CLIMATE ISSUES TO HEALTH CARE, CASHES OUT AT THE EVERYDAY LEVEL , BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT POLITICS REALLY MATTERS. IT STANDS TO MAKE OUR EVERYDAY LIVES BETTER OR WORSE. ADAM: YOU MAKE THE CONSTITUTIONAL THRESHOLD FOR THE PRESIDENCY BY ABOUT TWO YEARS AND CHANGE. WHAT THOUGHT DID YOU PUT INTO THIS AS YOU ENTERED INTO THE PROCESS AND LOOKING AT YOUR LIFE EXPERIENCE? MAYOR BUTTIGIEG: I GREW UP IN ONE OF THOSE COMMUNITIES, LIKE SO MANY INDUSTRIAL AND RURAL COMMUNITIES IN AMERICA, WHERE PEOPLE ARE GETTING UP, WHICH IS WHAT I DID, ONLY TO REALIZE THAT COMING HOME IS WHERE I WOULD FIND PURPOSE HERE IT I HAVE THE LIFE EXPERIENCE OF WORKING AND THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY AND BEING SENT TO WAR IN UNIFORM ON THE ORDERS OF THE AN AMERICAN PRESIDENT. I’M IN MY EIGHTH YEAR OF EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP, AND THIS IS CONSIDERED ONE OF AMERICA’S 10 DYING CITIES, BUT IT IS NOW GROWING AGAIN AND SEEING INVESTMENT AND OUR NEIGHBORHOODS AND DOWNTOWN. IT HAS A TRAJECTORY THAT I THINK IS A POWERFUL RESPONSE TO THE VISION THAT IS BEING PEDDLED OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE RIGHT NOW. IT SUGGESTS THE ONLY WAY TO REACH MY PART OF THE COUNTRIES THROUGH NOSTALGIA OR THROUGH RESENTMENT. I DO NOT THINK YOU CAN HAVE ON HIS POLITICS THAT REVOLVES AROUND THE WORD, AGAIN. I BELIEVE MY EXPERIENCE AND MY COMMUNITY’S EXPERIENCE IS ME A WAY TO TALK ABOUT THIS THAT IS DIFFERENT THAN THE OTHERS. JOHN: -- ADAM: YOU TALK ABOUT INTERGENERATIONAL JUSTICE. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? MAYOR BUTTIGIEG: THE LONGER YOU ARE PLANNING TO BE HERE, THE MORE PERSONAL SOME OF THESE ISSUES ARE. I THINK ABOUT WHAT THE WORLD WILL LOOK LIKE IN THE YEAR 2054, WHEN I WILL BE THE CURRENT AGE OF THE CURRENT PRESIDENT. I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL WHEN COLUMBINE HAPPENED, AND WE ARE THE GENERATION THAT PROVIDED THE BULK OF THE COMPLEX AFTER 9/11. THIS GENERATION WILL BE ON THE BUSINESS A PUP OF CLIMATE CHANGE FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES. ECONOMICALLY, WE ARE THE GENERATION IT COULD BE THE FIRST EVER TO BE WORSE OFF THAN OUR PARENTS IF NOTHING IS DONE. I THINK IT IS TIME FOR OUR GENERATION TO PUT FORWARD MORE VOICES AND TALK ABOUT HOW WE CAN CREATE A GENERATIONAL ALLIANCE AMONG VOTERS THAT IS CONCERNED WITH THE FUTURE, AND THE NAME OF THOSE YOUNGER THAN I AM. THE QUESTIONS CANNOT BE WRITTEN OFF AS SOMEONE ELSE POSE A PROBLEM. THEY ARE PERSONAL AND URGENT. ADAM: HOW DO DEMOCRATS WIN BACK THE HEARTLAND OF THE COUNTRY? MAYOR BUTTIGIE IN 2016, WE APPEARED TO BE OUT OF TOUCH WITH THE HEARTLAND, AND THERE IS NO REASON IT HAS TO BE SO. THERE IS A RICH PROGRESSIVE TRADITION AND THE AMERICAN MIDWEST, A TRADITION OF LEADERS WHO STOOD UP TO POWER ON BEHALF OF PEOPLE GOING TO ORDINARY, EVERYDAY LIFE IN CITIES AND FACTORIES AND RURAL AREAS. BUT WE HAVE TO ADJUST THE TONE THAT MY PARTY SOMETIMES USES TO DR. PEOPLE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE COUNTRY. WE CANNOT APPEAR TO BE CONDESCENDING AND WE ALSO HAVE TO OFFER AN ALTERNATIVE TO WHAT THE PRESIDENT IS PUTTING FORWARD. AT IS NOT JUST FOR MIDWESTERN COMMUNITIES BUT ANY COMMUNITY WRESTLING WITH YOUNG PEOPLE LIVING -- LEAVING, ANY COMMUNITY THAT IS TOLD IT MIGHT NOT HAVE A FUTURE WE HAVE TO RECOGNIZE THERE IS NO GOING BACK ON THE CHANGES COMING TO OUR COUNTRY AND OUR WORLD. THERE IS NO HONESTY AND SAYING THAT WE CAN DEAL WITH THESE THINGS BY JUST TURNING BACK THE CLOCK. WE ALSO HAVE HAVE BETTER ANSWERS ON HOW, FOR EXAMPLE, WE CAN MAKE SURE THAT TECHNOLOGY AND AUTOMATION AND GLOBALIZATION CAN BE MADE TO WORK FOR US, RATHER THAN THE OTHER WAY AROUND, SO COMMUNITIES LIKE MINE AND SUCH COMMUNITIES IN NEW HAMPSHIRE AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY ARE GOING TO BE LEFT BEHIND. ADAM: THANK YOU SO MUCH. DO NOT GO ANYWHERE UP IT WE’RE GOING TO HEAD OVER TO STUDI

Advertisement

Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg says he's uniquely qualified to be US president

As he tries to go from mayor of a midsized American city to president of the United States, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg answered questions from voters.Buttigieg, 37, said his experience makes him uniquely qualified for the job.Voters asked Buttigieg how he would match up with President Donald Trump on a debate stage."We need to make sure this debate isn't about him," Buttigieg said. "One of the things I've noticed is that all the critical attention that goes his way. He has a way of, just, kind of, devouring it and absorbing it and growing even bigger from it."Buttigieg said it's important to keep in mind the conditions that led to Trump's election."But in many ways, we have to talk about a world where he's going to come and go," Buttigieg said. "Because, in my view, a presidency like this doesn't just happen. Somebody like him would not even have come within cheating distance of the presidency unless there were profound problems in our economy, in our democratic system that made people where I live, for example, angry enough to vote to burn the house down."Buttigieg grew up in South Bend, Indiana, and he grew emotional when he described the recent loss of his father after a voter asked about a personal challenge he has faced."One thing I learned about it was the closeness of our family, the importance of my marriage," he said. "My husband absolutely propped our family up, helped my father in his last days, helps my mother right now, helps me."Even as a mayor and a former military officer who served in Afghanistan, “Nothing could have prepared me for some of the end-of-life decisions that our family faced,” Buttigieg said. “In all of these painful decisions, what we had to worry about was what was medically right for our family. And we did not have to worry about money. Not because we’re wealthy. We’re not," he said. But because people made a policy decision a long time ago about Medicare that when you reach a certain age, we will take care of this.”One of his priorities is making health care and prescription drugs more accessible and affordable for all Americans.Buttigieg said the overall cost of health care can be lowered “by having more readily available health care for all. We need a Medicare solution that moves us in the direction of 'Medicare-for-all' by allowing more people to get a more robust public option on the (Affordable Care Act) exchange.“That would help the out-of-pocket costs for these drug purchases come under control," he said.Buttigieg also said he wants to take dramatic action to address climate change. He also favors a public option on health care and abolishing the electoral college in favor of a national popular vote for president."I believe there's a lot of voter apathy as a consequence of the Electoral College," Buttigieg said. "There are tens of millions, maybe hundreds of millions, of Americans who get the message most years that their vote doesn't matter."Voters who got their first look at Buttigieg said they think he could stand out in the primary field. "I felt he was truly genuine," said Susan Cover, of Contoocook, New Hampshire. "I asked him a personal question, and he responded with tears in his eyes. This is, like, a real person, and I was sort of actually kind of beyond impressed."

MANCHESTER, N.H. —

As he tries to go from mayor of a midsized American city to president of the United States, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg answered questions from voters.

Advertisement

Buttigieg, 37, said his experience makes him uniquely qualified for the job.

Voters asked Buttigieg how he would match up with President Donald Trump on a debate stage.

"We need to make sure this debate isn't about him," Buttigieg said. "One of the things I've noticed is that all the critical attention that goes his way. He has a way of, just, kind of, devouring it and absorbing it and growing even bigger from it."

Buttigieg said it's important to keep in mind the conditions that led to Trump's election.

"But in many ways, we have to talk about a world where he's going to come and go," Buttigieg said. "Because, in my view, a presidency like this doesn't just happen. Somebody like him would not even have come within cheating distance of the presidency unless there were profound problems in our economy, in our democratic system that made people where I live, for example, angry enough to vote to burn the house down."

Buttigieg grew up in South Bend, Indiana, and he grew emotional when he described the recent loss of his father after a voter asked about a personal challenge he has faced.

"One thing I learned about it was the closeness of our family, the importance of my marriage," he said. "My husband absolutely propped our family up, helped my father in his last days, helps my mother right now, helps me."

Even as a mayor and a former military officer who served in Afghanistan, “Nothing could have prepared me for some of the end-of-life decisions that our family faced,” Buttigieg said.

“In all of these painful decisions, what we had to worry about was what was medically right for our family. And we did not have to worry about money. Not because we’re wealthy. We’re not," he said. But because people made a policy decision a long time ago about Medicare that when you reach a certain age, we will take care of this.”

One of his priorities is making health care and prescription drugs more accessible and affordable for all Americans.

Buttigieg said the overall cost of health care can be lowered “by having more readily available health care for all. We need a Medicare solution that moves us in the direction of 'Medicare-for-all' by allowing more people to get a more robust public option on the (Affordable Care Act) exchange.

“That would help the out-of-pocket costs for these drug purchases come under control," he said.

Buttigieg also said he wants to take dramatic action to address climate change. He also favors a public option on health care and abolishing the electoral college in favor of a national popular vote for president.

"I believe there's a lot of voter apathy as a consequence of the Electoral College," Buttigieg said. "There are tens of millions, maybe hundreds of millions, of Americans who get the message most years that their vote doesn't matter."

Voters who got their first look at Buttigieg said they think he could stand out in the primary field.

"I felt he was truly genuine," said Susan Cover, of Contoocook, New Hampshire. "I asked him a personal question, and he responded with tears in his eyes. This is, like, a real person, and I was sort of actually kind of beyond impressed."